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America begins its long post-storm clean up

MARK COLVIN: The long cleanup has begun in the United States, as people return home to flooded, ruined, and in some cases burnt-out, houses. The recovery has a long way to go, but priorities are now on getting schools reopened, subways restarted, and helping people to rebuild their homes.

The death toll has continued to climb. Currently, it's thought that at least 43 people died across the United States and 69 more in Caribbean countries like Haiti and Cuba.

Will Ockenden reports.

(Sound of water lapping)

WILL OCKENDEN: As the sun came up, as road blocks were cleared, Americans got their first glimpse at Hurricane Sandy's devastation.

RESIDENT 1: My house is underwater on the bottom, and I think my car is toast, but aside from that, it's ok.

WILL OCKENDEN: Since it hit land near Atlantic City in New Jersey yesterday, the superstorm has left behind it a staggering toll of disruption and destruction.

RESIDENT 2: These are my worst fears. Finding boats in the middle of the road is not what anybody would hope for today.

RESIDENT 3: We had a river in our backyard and the front yard. It was three feet high. The whole rec room, it was just a river. I thought the windows were going to blow up. It was scary.

WILL OCKENDEN: The death toll continues to climb in North America. Victims include two children who were killed when a tree smashed through the roof of their family home.

Millions remain without power, rubbish litters roads, towns and cities down the east coast, and water still laps over highways and runways. Cutting through a forest of fallen trees and powerlines, rescuers looked for survivors in the damp rubble.

New York's former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is in Sydney for a conference, says America will bounce back, like it always does.

RUDY GIULIANI: The real loss here is the loss of human life, and unfortunately, there was significant loss of human life.

The property damage, the loss of profits because the stock exchange is closed, the loss of profits because businesses are closed, you can make all that up, and knowing New York City, where resiliency is written in capital letters, they're going to probably more than make that up, but what you never make up for are the people who've lost their lives.

WILL OCKENDEN: Although weakened since it made landfall yesterday, vestiges of Hurricane Sandy remain. As it moves inland, the US National Hurricane Center is reporting gusts of up to 60 kilometres per hour, and warns of flooding, blizzards and wind.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is checking nuclear power plants which were in Sandy's way. One plant at Oyster Creek in New Jersey remains on alert because of high water levels, which are now beginning to subside.

The focus now is getting back to normal, and Rudy Giuliani was happy to provide his advice.

RUDY GIULIANI: Priorities for rebuilding always have to be to get people back to their homes. First of all, to get the schools open, so that children can go to school - I'm sure that'll happen pretty quickly. In the case of New York City, you've got to get the subway system back, and that should happen pretty quickly.

Then the more long-term goal has to be to get people back in their homes - get the homes rebuilt and the neighbourhoods rebuilt as quickly as possible, and in the interim, make sure that people are housed, taken care of.

And that's where New York City and New Jersey are particularly good - meaning they have very, very strong emergency relief and recovery efforts where there are tremendous resources for making sure that people, while they're waiting for their neighbourhood to be rebuilt, while they're waiting for their homes to be rebuilt, will be taken care of. They'll be housed somewhere equivalent, they'll be housed under conditions that are safe.

The city's been through this before - not that it's easy, but because the city has so much experience dealing with these emergencies, it probably does it better than most other places.

WILL OCKENDEN: The Australia's Government considers Australians to be pretty good at cleaning up after fires and floods, and has offered assistance.

BOB CARR: By all accounts, speaking to our Australian representatives, it was devastating. A devastating natural disaster, the worst anyone can recall over so vast an area.

WILL OCKENDEN: Foreign Minister Bob Carr says he's relieved that so far, no Australian appears to have been killed or injured.

BOB CARR: Twenty-four thousand Australians understood to be living or travelling in the area, and their welfare was our highest concern. They obviously face some hardship ahead, with a difficult situation about power supplies, and hence about food, and we wish them well and again urge them to be in touch with authorities and take the advice.

WILL OCKENDEN: Americans will soon wake to another day of cleaning up and rebuilding which could take months, if not years. But after two days of paralysis, there are finally some signs that life - in New York at least - is returning to normality.

New York state governor Andrew Cuomo says the stock markets will likely reopen Wednesday, American time, after their two-day emergency shutdown.